Aspects of this disclosure generally relate to systems and methods for laser alignment and laser safety eyewear.
Safe operation of a laser beam apparatuses includes proper eyewear protection. Known laser eyewear protection may provide a physical and/or optical barrier to protect the eyes of laser operators by preventing transmission of light at the laser's wavelength. Such laser eyewear protection is thus rated for the specific wavelength, power, and/or pulse characteristics of the laser being operated.
In order to align a laser (e.g., with a power meter, an iris, an optic, and the like) for certain procedures, an operator may need to be able to see light of the laser that is reflected or scattered (e.g., by particles in air or objects in the path of the laser). Ideally, a laser operator would only make adjustments to the laser's path with the laser operating at the lowest possible power setting. However, known laser eyewear protection, e.g., laser goggles, often prevents the laser light from being seen, especially at lower power settings.
To compensate for the above shortcomings in laser eyewear protection, laser viewing cards may be employed in conjunction with laser goggles. Such laser viewing cards emit broadband fluorescence that can be seen through laser goggles. Thus, the laser beam location may be viewed by placing the viewing card in the path of the laser beam.
However, known laser viewing cards often have a fairly high energy threshold that must be met before sufficient fluorescence to see the laser beam on the card is emitted. Such a high energy threshold may thus require the laser to be operated at a higher power setting than the threshold lasing power. Higher power is generally more hazardous for both equipment and personnel and can result in damage to optics or other equipment (including the viewing card itself) if the beam is misaligned.
Remote viewing of a laser may also be accomplished using fixed or hand-held video cameras, cell-phone cameras, or a separate monitor or display. However, video cameras are often cumbersome to use and require additional space for the extra equipment, alignment (in the case of fixed cameras), and a free hand (in the case of hand-held cameras). Monitors may not always be placed in a convenient location, i.e., where visible by the operator making adjustments to optical components like mirrors and lenses.
Prior art solutions for laser safety and alignment systems have not resolved the need for an approach to perform the above functions with accuracy, efficiency, or with cross-applicability to many various system architectures. Therefore, there is a need for systems and methods that address one or more of the deficiencies described above.